Prior to 1628, Robert Rich, Earl of Warwick, became president of the
Council for New England, the company authorized to develop "Northern Virginia."
On March 19, 1631 ("Old Style"
calendar ), Rich purportedly prepared a document that has somewhat inaccurately
come to be known as the "Warwick Patent," the "Old Patent," or "Connecticut’s
First Charter." However, the existing versions of that document are neither
a charter from the King nor a patent from the Council for New England and
include no provisions for the creation of a corporation or a government
with legal status. Rather, the document is a deed of conveyance from Warwick
to certain "Lords and Gentlemen" (including Lord Saye and Sele and Lord
Brooke, for whom Saybrook was named) for "All that part of New England in
America which lies and extends itselfe from a River there called Narraghensett
River … to the South Sea."

Although Warwick’s conveyance to the "Lords and Gentlemen" should have
been covered by an actual grant or patent from the Council for New England,
it remains unclear even today whether Warwick actually had title to the
land described or the authority to transfer it to the "Lords and Gentlemen."
Frank Thistlethwaite notes in Dorset Pilgrims that "there is doubt
whether the patent was ever properly executed (p. 23)." R. V. Coleman indicates
that Warwick’s conveyance "rested on no evident title to the land granted
(p. 9)" and that although on June 21, 1632 the secretary of the Council
for New England was "instructed to bring in a ‘rough draught’ of a patent
to Warwick (p. 10)," there is "no evidence that such a patent passed, and
much that it did not (p. 11)." Further, even Warwick’s deed to the "Lords
and Gentlemen" had what Coleman terms "a very shadowy existence (p. 9)."
Richard S. Dunn goes so far as to state that the "Warwick patent of 1632
has never since been seen, and was probably a fiction (p. 74)."

In 1660, following the restoration of Charles II to the throne, Connecticut’s
leaders felt it necessary to justify the colony’s legal status. They were
in an awkward position, as Connecticut did not have a charter from the Crown.
The basis of Connecticut’s government was derived from a March 3, 1635/6
commission from the Massachusetts Bay Colony authorizing groups from that
colony to settle in Connecticut, and its claims to land were largely based
on the "Patent," a copy of which they were unable to locate. In 1661,
Governor Winthrop was
sent to England with instructions from the General Court to use "all due
meanes to procure a Coppy of the Patent"or to secure a new patent with "al
ye rights, provilidges, authority and imunities that are granted in ye Massachuset
Colonyes Pattent."

Winthrop returned to Connecticut with a document which he termed the
"copye of the Patent for Connecticutt / being ye copy of that copy wch
was shewed/ to ye people there by Mr. Georg Fenwick." However,
Governor Winthrop was also able to secure a document with more substantive
legal status, the famous
Charter of 1662
which not only incorporated but extended the territory described in the
"copye of the Patent," providing Connecticut with boundaries extending from
the Narragansett River to the South Sea (Pacific Ocean).

The historical significance of the "Warwick Patent" is not what it actually
provided but what Connecticut’s early leaders believed or claimed it provided.
In 1635, the "Warwick Patent" was used to justify the establishment of a
colony and the erection of a fort at Saybrook, a claim to lands in Matianuck
(later Windsor, Connecticut) by a party led by Francis Stiles, and the establishment
of John Winthrop, Jr. as the "governor of the river Connecticut." The "Patent"
was subsequently invoked to help legitimize Connecticut’s legal status.
By 1662, what John Winthrop, Jr. described as the lost "Originall Pattent"
but which historian R.V. Coleman calls "the non-existent Warwick title,
grown to limits probably unthought-of in 1632 (p. 53)" was used to help
secure the Charterproviding legal bounds and a basis for government that lasted until
the Constitution
of 1818. Even after the Charter was obtained, the "Old Patent" was cited
to support Connecticut’s position in boundary disputes with neighboring
colonies.

Connecticut Archives:
Towns and Lands in the State Archives includes three versions of Warwick’s
19 March 1631 (by the "Old Style"
calendar) deed of conveyance. The first is "The Copye of the Patent
for Connecticutt" which Winthrop brought to Connecticut from London (Connecticut
Archives: Towns and Lands, Series I, Doc. 2Aab).

The second version (Connecticut Archives: Towns and Lands, Series
I, Doc. 5) is a copy "taken out" by John Talcott (1625- July 23, 1688),
one of the patentees of the Charter of 1662. Jacobus indicates that among
other offices, Talcott served as an Assistant; Treasurer of the Connecticut
Colony, 1660-1675; and Commissioner for the United Colonies. "In March 1663
he was a Commissioner to treat with New Haven relative to the absorption
of that colony by Connecticut; Commissioner on the New York boundary, Oct.
1663, on the Massachusetts and Rhode Island boundaries, Oct. 1664, and on
the Rhode Island boundary, May 1672 (Jacobus, p. 751)."

The third version was made August 6, 1679 by John Allyn, Secretary of
the Connecticut Colony (Connecticut Archives: Towns and Lands, Series
I, Doc.2B). On August 1, Rhode Island had asserted its claims to the western
boundary granted them by their charter, which overlapped the area described
in the "Warwick Patent" and Connecticut’s Charter, and had had petitioned
the King accordingly. It is likely that Allyn executed his copy of the "Warwick
Patent" in that context.

Images of all three versions of the "Warwick Patent" are included in
this online presentation, along with a transcription of the Winthrop "Copye"
made in 2007 by State Library staff. You may also wish to consult resources
for reading and interpreting
old handwriting, and explaining the
1752 calendar change.

Thistlethwaite, Frank. Dorset Pilgrims: The Story of West Coast Pilgrims
Who Went to New England in the 17th Century. London: Barrie
& Jenkins, 1989 [CSL call number F 7 .T48 1989].

Trumbull, Benjamin. A Complete History of Connecticut Civil and Ecclesiastical….
New London: H. D. Utley, 1898 [CSL call number F 97 .T79 1898]. See Volume
1, pp. 9-11 and a transcription of "The old patent of Connecticut, 1631,"
pp. 423-4.

Prepared by the History and Genealogy Unit,
Connecticut State Library, August 2008.

AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
The State of Connecticut is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and strongly encourages the applications of women, minorities, and persons with disabilities.

, Connecticut State Library. All rights reserved.
Further reproduction, publication, or dissemination is limited to fair use
by individuals for private purposes and research only, and may in no way
be further reproduced except with the specific written permission of the
Connecticut State Library.